Benoni Defense: Knight's Tour Variation
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Nd2
The Benoni Defense: Knight's Tour Variation is a chess opening classified as ECO A61, reached after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Nd2. It is a line of the Benoni Defense. Black is to move.
In 12.6 million rated Lichess games (blitz and slower), this position was reached 28 times by this move order. White won 61%, 7% were drawn and Black won 32%. The most popular continuation is 7… Bg7 (71% of games).
Engine evaluation: +0.63 (Stockfish, depth 50; best line 7… Bg7 8. e4 O-O 9. Be2 Na6 10. a4)
- ECO
- A61
- Moves
- 13 plies
- FEN
rnbqkb1r/pp3p1p/3p1np1/2pP4/8/2N5/PP1NPPPP/R1BQKB1R b KQkq - 1 7- PGN
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Nd2
Analyse with Stockfish · Board image (SVG) · Open on Lichess
Results by rating
| Average rating | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 1500-1999 | 1 | |
| 2000+ | 27 | |
| All | 28 |
Most played moves
| Move | Games | White / draw / Black |
|---|---|---|
| 7… Bg7 | 20 (71%) | |
| 7… Nbd7 | 4 (14%) | |
| 7… a6 | 3 (11%) | |
| 7… b5 | 1 (4%) |
Master games
376 over-the-board games are classified under this line (White 46%, draw 21%, Black 33%). The strongest:
- LCZero v0.24-sv-t60-3010 (3840) – AllieStein v0.6-n14.3beta (3815) 1-0 · 5th TCEC Cup 2020 · 2020-04-27
- AllieStein v0.6-n14.3beta (3815) – LCZero v0.24-sv-t60-3010 (3840) 1/2-1/2 · 5th TCEC Cup 2020 · 2020-04-27
- Stockfish 202005232210 (3796) – Ethereal 12.19 (3708) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-06-01
- Ethereal 12.19 (3708) – Stockfish 202005232210 (3796) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 18 Premier 2020 · 2020-05-28
- LCZero 0.31-dag-e429eeb-BT3-2790000 (3642) – Stockfish dev-20231010-00263636 (3673) 1/2-1/2 · TCEC 25 Superfinal 2023 · 2023-10-29
Search all games of the Benoni Defense: Knight's Tour Variation and its sub-variations
Highest-rated Lichess games
- NM Andrey11976 (2800) – Epichess95 (2834) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- July16Q (2649) – notkevich (2741) 1-0 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 0s
- RadioJoy (2613) – Puntano (2580) 0-1 · 2026-09-03 · 180 + 2s
Comes from
Benoni Defense (6. Nc3 g6) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6
More Benoni Defense lines (all)
- Benoni Defense: Franco-Sicilian Hybrid A40
- Benoni Defense: Benoni Gambit Accepted A43
- Benoni Defense: Benoni Gambit, Schlenker Defense A43
- Benoni Defense: Benoni-Indian Defense A43
- Benoni Defense: Benoni-Indian Defense, Kingside Move Order A43
- Benoni Defense: Benoni-Staunton Gambit A43
- Benoni Defense: Cormorant Gambit A43
- Benoni Defense: French Benoni A43
- Benoni Defense: Hawk Variation A43
- Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (1. d4 c5) A43
- Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (1… c5 2. d5) A43
- Benoni Defense: Old Benoni (2. d5 d6) A43
Opening names and moves from the Lichess openings dataset; statistics from the Lichess open database, 2026-09 (CC0), sample of 12.6 million games, bots excluded; evaluations from Lichess cloud analysis (all CC0). Master games from The Week in Chess #920–#1664 by Mark Crowther, used with permission.